Tired of Chasing Symptoms?

Courtesy of The 100 Year Lifestyle

Symptoms are Signals

Isn't it time you stopped chasing symptoms? These signals that you get from your body are frequently misunderstood. More importantly, treating symptoms without getting to the cause of a problem can lead to mismanagement of your health and more severe health problems as you age.

When you get sick, for example, and your temperature goes up, your body is naturally fighting off the infection. Bacteria thrive in a climate that is 98.6 degrees so your body's Innate Intelligence raises your temperature to help fight off the infection on its own. The symptoms of this elevated temperature can be muscle aches, fatigue, weakness and general malaise. At the first sign or symptom of a fever, many people will immediately panic and try to bring the temperature down with medication, treating the symptoms rather than letting the body do its job and heal itself.

The medications that are used to treat these symptoms can lead to side effects and even weaken the body's natural immunity. In recent years, the overuse of antibiotics has created an epidemic of superbugs within individuals that are untreatable and pose a serious threat to our long term health.

The CDC States
The CDC states, "If antibiotics are used too often for things they can't treat-like colds or other viral infections-they can stop working effectively. Antibiotic resistance has been a concern for years and is considered one of the world's most critical public health threats. Widespread overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics is fueling an increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

"In the U.S., antibiotic-resistant infections are responsible for $20 billion in excess healthcare costs, $35 billion in societal costs and $8 million in additional hospital days."

A report commissioned by the Canadian Coordinating Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance estimated that infections caused by antibiotic-resistant organisms increased direct hospital costs in Canada by $15-25 million annually.

How Your Body Heals Itself
Many experts say that it is better to give the body a chance to heal itself with rest and fluids along with chiropractic adjustments that remove pressure from the nervous system. Unless there is an extreme elevation in body temperature, and depending on other symptoms, allowing your body to heal itself naturally helps your immune system build the resistance it needs to keep you healthy and fight infections more effectively.

Consider the case for "referred pain." This means you can feel a symptom in one part of your body while the cause or the origin of that pain is somewhere else. For example, very often the cause of arm, hand or finger pain is in the neck. Leg and foot pain will often originate from a problem in the back. Problems with the gallbladder will often refer pain to the spinal nerve roots in the middle part of the spine and vice versa.

Because chiropractic works to restore health and vitality to the nervous system, we are always amazed at how the entire body often becomes free of symptoms through our work with the spine. Since nerves control every cell, tissue and organ of your body, problems in the nervous system can cause or mimic nearly any and every symptom imaginable.

It is very common to hear our practice members say things like "I know I came because my neck hurt, and my allergies and headaches are gone too." or "I didn't even tell you about my menstrual cramping but since I've been getting adjusted, my cramps have been reduced dramatically." or "I sleep so much better since beginning my care."

The list goes on and on. Isn't it time you stop chasing symptoms and get to the cause? You will enjoy a much healthier life when you do.


© 2013. The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

Dr. Andria Hoda

Meadowlands Chiropractic

www.meadowlandschiropractic.com

Do You Have An Ostrich In Your Family?

Courtesy of The 100 Year Lifestyle

Have you ever seen a picture of an ostrich with its head buried in the sand? This is one of the funniest scenes in nature, but an unfunny, accurate metaphor to describe individuals who have a crisis care mentality about their health. This means that they only take care of themselves when they are sick, diagnosed with a disease or are in excruciating pain.

If you want to live an active, healthy long life, this ostrich mentality won’t get you there. 

Here are some signs that you or a loved one may be in a crisis with your head in the sand:

•        You take over the counter drugs on a monthly basis
•       You have taken prescription drugs consistently for more than 3 months
•      You have altered your life due to a health concern
•       You constantly try to pop your neck and back or are fidgety
•       You cannot exercise without pain
•       You take medication to offset the side effects of other medications
•       You experience irregular sleep patterns
•       You are susceptible to colds and the flu
•       You often say things like, “I need to go to the doctor” or                           “I need to take a pill”
•       You have difficulty standing or sitting up straight

 

Many seniors and centenarians are suffering the consequences of their “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, ostrich-like attitudes. We are getting the advance notice that our parents and grandparents never received so we can think differently about health and pull our heads out of the sand.

Embrace your innate potential.

Do you have a parent or grandparent that lived to be 70, 80, 90 or 100 years old? Whether you like it or not, this is your minimum Innate, genetic potential. Your children and grandchildren share your genes as well, so become excited about your longevity, and theirs, and make the lifestyle changes now to ensure your health and vitality for a lifetime.

Remove interference.

Your mind and body will break down when there is interference in your nervous system. Just like a car accident will interfere with the flow of traffic, interference in your nervous system will cause dis-ease in your body which can lead to pain, sickness and even chronic disease. Sometimes you will have symptoms and sometimes you won’t. Don’t wait for the symptoms, the crisis, to remove this interference. That’s what an ostrich would do. Stay healthy by keeping this interference out of your life, your spine and your nervous system, regardless of how you feel.

It’s time for an Intervention.

If you have an ostrich in your family, you can save their life and make a difference by intervening. Express your concern. Show them you care. Get help from others if you need it but don’t let them become a statistic and “just another person” who was killed or injured severely because they were in denial about the dangers to their health.

We are excited to be a part of your health care team. If you have an ostrich in your life, we would be honoured to help them get their head out of the sand.

Dr. Andria Hoda

Meadowlands Chiropractic

http://www.meadowlandschiropractic.com/

Under Utilization of Chiropractic

By: Dr. Andria Hoda

The U-U of Chiropractic is the Under-Utilization of the health philosophy, science and healing art that is at the foundation of chiropractic care.  Why is Under-Utilization an issue for you and your family? Why should our culture take note?  The statistics on the benefits of a healthy spine and nerve system and chiropractic care are astounding and well documented by scientific literature and the tens of millions of people benefiting from the care. 

Here are some examples:
• People under chiropractic care use medical services 58% less • People under chiropractic care take less medication. 
• They are 15% less likely to end up in nursing homes.
• They are more likely to get back to work faster after injury on    
   the job. 
• They perform better in sports and recover quicker when  
   injured on the field.

In the past, mixed messages about the benefits of chiropractic may have misguided you on how to utilize the care. They sometimes leave the impression that it is just for back or neck pain. While chiropractic care is exceptional at helping people with pain and other health problems, that’s not what the care is about.  The true benefits of chiropractic care will be experienced when you and your loved ones go beyond Crisis Care and make the  Critical Transition to Lifestyle Care. This type of care is not about treating symptoms. 

It is about keeping your spine and nerve system healthy and balanced over the course of your lifetime, whether you suffer from symptoms or not, so your body can function at its optimum levels.

From the moment you were born, your spine and nerve system have been exposed to macro and micro traumas that can affect your growth, development and function of your spine and nerve system. Since nerves control your entire body, these traumas may cause immediate symptoms that can affect every area of your body, or they may lie dormant and asymptomatic for decades leading to deterioration and disease down the road. 

So what is the appropriate level of utilization of chiropractic care? The answer is different for everyone and can be discovered through a chiropractic examination. You will find that the intensity of your Lifestyle Care will depend on the intensity of your lifestyle, health goals and the underlying pre-existing conditions that have impacted your spine and nerve system since birth. If you want to live an active, healthy, long life, you must have a healthy spine and nerve system. Period. Get your spine and nerve system checked today and find out how you can best utilize and benefit from chiropractic care. Start today, regardless of your age, and express your full potential for a lifetime!

Dr. Andria Hoda
Meadowlands Chiropractic
2-35 Stone Church Road - Ancaster
www.meadowlandschiropractic.ca
meadowlands@live.com

Who Knew Being Born Was So Tough?

By: Dr. Andria Hoda

I will never forget the day in chiropractic college when one of our professors walked into the class holding a doll.  The doll was an infant.  He then posed the question to all of my classmates, “What is the single most traumatic experience one can go through in their life?”  Well, there were a myriad of logical responses, for example motor vehicle accidents, traumas and the like.  Our prof then proceeded to throw the doll at the wall.  Naturally, we all gasped!  What on earth was he trying to tell us with that?!  Well, he then explained and it all made sense.  That is what it is like to be born.  Being born is quite the experience.  The whole birthing process can be very taxing, not only on the mother (and the spectator father :)  but is especially so on the newborn baby.  

I was just at a conference this weekend where paediatrics was largely discussed and examined.  Have you actually seen the pulling, twisting, tensing, compressing and so on that the little baby has to endure? Not to mention when medical interventions are performed (C-sections, forceps, suction, etc).  It is very traumatic on the  baby’s brainstem and spinal cord.  What impact does this have on a child, not only then, but as they grow?

I mentioned in the February issue in “How Well Do You Know  Your Nervous System” that in order to live your life optimally, your brain-body connection must be firing free from interference, or subluxation as it is known.  

The brain communicates to the rest of your body via the nervous system and when that isn’t free of subluxation then we cannot thrive and be at our best.  Now what if this interference occurs during the birthing process and is left undiscovered and uncleared? Well, a number of issues may develop - colic, ear infections, gas, digestive issues, poor sleep, inability to latch during breastfeeding and ADHD, just to name a few.


 Many times we look to medicine and drugs to help treat these issues.  Is that really dealing with the cause?  If the cause is subluxation, treating only the symptoms will do more harm than good.

So what can you do to see if you or your loved ones are subluxated?  See a chiropractor!  We are trained to find these areas of interference in your nervous system.  We have state of the art equipment and safe, easy and effective techniques to help you achieve optimal health.  You don’t need to be a certain age or in pain to be subluxated.  It can happen at birth!  We live longer and longer lives these days - why not live it to the max!  Getting older doesn’t mean life gets worse.  Being free of subluxation allows for true life 
expression.  I urge you all to not be afraid.  Ask questions.  Get adjusted. 
Contact me anytime to see how you can live your life to its fullest potential.

Today is the best day ever.

Dr. Andria Hoda
Meadowlands Chiropractic
2-35 Stone Church Road - Ancaster
www.meadowlandschiropractic.ca
meadowlands@live.com

How does everyday stress effect you?

By: Dr. Andria Hoda

If I asked you to rate your daily stress (occupational, relationship, etc) on a scale of zero to ten, with ten being the highest, where would yours be?  What would you consider to be an “average, normal”  score? Surprisingly, most new patients at my office usually rate theirs around a seven or eight out of ten. Even more surprising is that they feel that that is just “normal” stress.  For me, that raises some flags. 

Ok, so we aren’t talking about bad stress vs. good stress here - we are talking about the physical, chemical and emotional stress that your body has to endure on a daily basis just to live. Our bodies are hard wired to do whatever it takes to make sure you have the capability to survive in your environment. That being said, whenever your body encounters an environmental stressor it has to adapt and do it quickly!

The human body is an amazing machine. It knows when to turn up certain systems and inhibit others, depending on its survival needs at any given moment. If, for example, your doorbell rings and it’s a tiger on the other side of the door you have some quick choices to make!  I guarantee your brain is not focused on digesting your dinner or how efficiently your immune system is working at this point in time. Priorities! You need some energy to run or some power to fight! Man vs. tiger... quick feet it is! 

So we know that the human body has the instinctive capability to do what’s necessary in order to keep us alive. Our body does this best when it is in a state of homeostasis. Homeostasis is when our body is free from all stressors and it has the ability to use any and all energy to perform the functions required to grow healthy  cells and repair damaged ones.  So now let’s add in some stressors. 

Stressors take us away from our optimal state of homeostasis and take us into a state of adaptation. Some examples of these toxic stressors are physical traumas, drugs, environmental pollutants and chemicals, processed foods, and negative thoughts. 

So now,  if our bodies have to deal with those chronically on a daily basis, how much energy is expended on regeneration and repair?  Not very much, unfortunately. And so the disease processes in the body begin.  Many people suffer from chronic diseases in today’s society and we must be aware of exactly what could be causing them. We are, after all, products of our environment. We are responsible for our own health and well being. 

There is a flip side to this stress coin:  De-stressing is so much fun! 

 Let’s face it, we live in a busy, not-enough-hours-in-the-day world and we consistently put ourselves last on the priority scale. It is imperative to have some YOU time.  In this time, try to do things that make you happy and forget about any stress you may be under. Never underestimate the moments you have that truly make you happy. They are exponentially powerful in keeping you healthy. Spending time with family and friends, reading a good book, yoga, spa treatments, getting outside on a beautiful day...these are just a few things that we fail to recognize as being stress relieving and relaxing.

Your body clings and adapts to the stress that it faces. It is not a subject to be taken lightly. There are many books and websites that provide a plethora of ideas for stress and lifestyle management tips and ideas. My favourite book that encompasses not only this subject but also how to live a wellness lifestyle in today’s world is by my mentor, Dr. James Chestnut . The book is called “The Wellness and Prevention Paradigm.” Dr. Chestnut coined the  phrase “Eat Well. 

Move Well. Think Well.” Exactly what we need to do to live optimally!

I always welcome any questions regarding your health and wellness! 

Dr. Andria Hoda- Chiropractor 

Please feel free to contact me at my office or via email at 

meadowlands@live.com.

Remember, TODAY is the best day ever!